Assignment 1

Through elementary school a child is taught the basics of reading and writing. If learned properly, the learned skills are carried on to the next levels. I was a child who had trouble with reading. I was a good reader, but when the time came to answer the worksheet that followed the readings I was lacking comprehension skills. My teachers realized this quickly. They knew I was reading, but also knew I was answering the questions wrong on the comprehension worksheets. My parents were notified and began working with me at home. My parents were a huge help. They would read with me to make sure that I was actually focusing on my reading instead of just following the words. My teachers also helped me to improve. I would be given readings with questions listed half way through instead of at the end. I began to pay more attention to what I was reading and improved quickly.

Writing seemed to come easy to me. I had a very large imagination and could write quite well. As I went through junior high I had a teacher, Mr. Snyder, who taught the basics of English. I enjoyed that class very much so and Mr. Snyder was my inspiration to become an English teacher at that same grade level. Continuing through high school I enrolled in college English courses. I believe that these few courses I was enrolled in helped immensely. I was taught to write in such an order that an outline was habit to me while to other students, it was a hassle to find an opening statement.

I can relate to David Raymond and Mike Rose in such a manner that we all had some set backs, but were able to defeat the problem, some easier than others, and quickly move on. I am looking forward to becoming an educator so that I can help students such as myself, Raymond, and Rose, to pursue their own dreams and control the minor setbacks they have.

the first person i would have to say that has influenced my reading has been my mother, to this day she reads and ever since i was younger she always has. She would always take me to the book store and that really got me into the habit of reading just by being there. She always has told me to read and that it is good to keep it going for the rest of my life because some people stop reading after they are done with their schooling.

The person who has influenced my writing abilities the most is my high school teacher, Mrs. Kuslits. I had her my junior year, and she challenged me the most to write my best and really think out and analyze my ideas. This is like Rose who was pushed by his teachers to become who he is today. I would never say i am the best writer, i think that i can work on a lot more things and improve, there are habits i still need to get out of. She was the teacher to prepare me the most for college and i really appreciate it. It was not an easy class for me at the time and i did not like it but i learned from it tremendously.

Homework #1: Raymond, Rose, and Laib

I have lived a very hard life while concerning about reading and writing, and like Mr. Mike Rose in his story(as discussed later) and Mr. David Raymond in On Being 17, Bright, and Unable to Read, I have had a difficult time understanding the material in some of my subjects in my courses. Most of my high school was based more on reading where as most of my Associates Degree experience was based more on writing. I beleive that reading and writing are both are important personally and publically in this world.

Throughout my life there have been people who beleived that they were better than I was in some cases in my reading and writing education, and have disrespected me due to my slow responses at times. Some of these people have been my classmates and others have been some teachers and professors. These people's styles of rhetoric constituent areas communication fails to make the memory retrieve unimportant pain rather than to accurately deliver whats really needs to be learned for that subject as what I can occur from Nevin K. Laib's Rhetoric and Style. I felt just as bad as Mr. Raymond, when he was at school too because he needed an extra boost in his academic career in which either the people around him didn't know, or immorally could careless to do.

On the lighter side, there have been people who have helped me through out my life. The person who has really helped me out the most in my writing education was Dr. Mohammed Elanhal. Not only did he check my paper when I was in ENG 112 at Owen State Community College, he also encouraged me to write more than what is required, which really helped me to develop more of a professional trait I use to this day on a daily basis. Which was just like the four people who helped Mr. Rose in Entering the Conversation.

Through out my readings I still have a hard time pin-pointing what's really important. In some books like my Entreprenuerial Finance, I can pin-point what's important because of what the review questions are at the end of the chapters and definitions to the back and through out the book, but in some books that I read there are no helpful guides. Which is hard for me to understand as well as it was for Mr. Raymond and Mr. Rose before they had the extra help.

In conclusion, I do understand that the by some people's cultures are set only to pay attention to the best and ingnore the rest, and if you wanted to become a part of that certain culture, you have to learn what you need to do mainly by yourself. However, you and the society benefit more if you all understand what the "Rhetorical Situation" as discussed in Nevin K. Laib's Rhetoric and Style, is mainly the clear understanding between you and the society.

response to topic 1

As a youth i was always engaged with reading books and writing stories. My mother as well as my religion molded me to become a reader and a writer, activities that i enjoy a lot. I remember in elementry school we used to have weekly reading groups and i recall reading some of the great classics such as Treasure Island, A Wrinkle in Time, The Black Cauldron, and many other books. In the sixth grade that was when i started to write short stories because at the time i wanted to become an author.

I have to agree with Rose when he states in his article when he recieves papers back that state "rewrite", "awkard", or my favorite "does not make sense" without indicating exactly what they want. I can understand his frustrations when it comes to papers and i am sure anyone who has ever written a paper for a teacher can understand that as well.

Response to Assignment 1: Laib, Rose, Raymond

My mother has emphasized the importance of literacy since my early childhood. She read to me everyday and taught me how to understand and use words to expressly communicate with others. She helped me to understand the value of communicating effectively in all aspects in life. I excelled in reading and writing in high school; it was not until after my freshman year of college that I learned to formulate my thoughts in a more structured, academic manner. Although writing came naturally to me, learning to speak the “language of the academy,” referred to by Mike Rose has been much more of a challenge. My first advancement beyond this barrier can be attributed to my ethics professor Spence; he helped me to think of arguments and question different points of view through discussion and logical examination.

Response to Rose and Raymond

After reading the selections from Raymond and Rose, I got to thinking about all the people who have positively effected my skills as a writer. Although I feel that I obtained knowledge and advice from various sources, there are two people that seem to stand out amongst the crowd.

When I was little, my grandmother was the one who really got me into reading. By the time I was in kindergarten, I was reading at a second grade level. Weekly, my mother would take me to the library with a tote bag and tell me to "fill er' up." I would then take my bag full of books over to my grandmother and just sit on her lap while she read to me for hours. I feel that because of her involvement in my reading, it has really helped me to maintain an interest literature. Because I was such an avid reader, my vocabulary expanded and I never really had problems writing papers in school.

The second person to influence my writing was my creative writing teacher in high school. He was a very intelligent man who would grade people not on the accuracy of grammar and the use of proper English, but on the students ability to articulate their thoughts and feelings within their work. I feel that he really helped me to express myself in a more coherent manner, rather then to make sure all of my thoughts and opinions were grammatically correct.

Assigment #1 Response

Some of the first people that shaped my reading and writing skills were my parents. I remember listening to bedtime stories as a little kid every night before I went to bed. I believe that this simple task made me familiar with many words, terms, and sentences that I otherwise would not have been introduced to. Once I entered high school, Mr. Warner, my senior English teacher, really expanded upon the skills that I had been developing throughout my school career. I learned how to critically analyze text and properly compile my thoughts into an argumentative essay. It was my senior year of high school that prepared me for the English classes I have taken thus far in college. While I did learn a few new skills in English 111 and English 112, I feel that most of my writing skills can be credited to my senior English teacher.
Similar to the article written by Rose, my senior English teacher was very willing to help all students with any difficulties. While I often understood the readings we were assigned, I did not always grasp the overall messages of the text. Mr. Warner was able to explain the text and words in a way that I understood. This allowed me to look for deeper meanings within all the readings that I did, not just in English class.

Response to assignment 1

I think that my senior year of high school and my first year of college is where my writing really developed the most. Both of those years I learned a lot in how to develop, organize, and find useful resources for essays. In high school, I was in a tech prep program for education where we had to complete a portfolio with 24 essays in it by the end of the year. If it wasn't for that class I would probably still be in english 111 because we didn't do much writing in any of my english classes in high school. My teacher always took time out of her busy schedule and helped me to understand what was missing in my writing and pushed me to figure out on my own how to correct the mistakes. My instructor for 112 was also very helpful when it came to helping me to further my abilities in writing. He always explained his assignments thoroughly and we studied the material in depth before writing in class to make sure we understood what we were to do. Overall, I think that if it wasn't for those teachers that cared enough to help Raymond, Rose, and myself in our struggles with writing or reading that we probably wouldn't be where we are today.

Response to Laib, Raymond and Rose/ assignment 1

There are many events and people that have influenced my writing over the years. The first person to influence my writing was Mr Stuebner, back in my senior year of high school. This was a college composition class. He introduced me to the different writing styles and how to perfect my writing skills. The second way I was influenced was by the military. This writing was very disciplined and concise. Reports and blotters were very to the point, but with extreme detail. Finally, English 111 and 112 shaped my writing into a cookie cutter fashion. I set up my writing like a math equation. Thesis statement, three points, counter arguement, then conclusion. These method seemed to be followed through both the courses which made them vary boring. Hopefully this course does not follow this model.